Glad to see Cruz-Dewhurst come to an end

Published 10:44 am, Tuesday, July 31, 2012

The day for the primary runoff between Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and former Texas Solictor General Ted Cruz for U.S. Senate is here, and all we can say is thank goodness.

We haven’t been thrilled with the tone of the race between Dewhurst and Cruz, the highest profile of all the statewide races this year. Their race has shown us what we dislike about today’s politics.

During Dewhurst’s visit to Midland on Saturday he compared the conservative Cruz to another “Washington-trained lawyer promising hope and change” — an obvious attempt to connect Cruz with President Obama. Smart voters will see through this type of false advertising.

Cruz burst onto the scene trying to paint Dewhurst as some kind of tax-and-spend “moderate,” the kind that our citizens don’t need to send to Washington. Again, we the smarter voter shouldn’t pay attention to this type of name-calling.

In the end, Texas Republicans are blessed to have two talented candidates who bring different strengths to the table.

Dewhurst is an experienced legislator, an effective leader, a representative of the oil and gas community and someone who’s been there for Midland and the Permian Basin.

Cruz is a dynamic conservative, ready to join a growing segment in Washington wanting to make fiscal responsibility the No. 1 issue of the day. Midlanders can connect with the need for government to live within its means.

The fact is, neither Cruz nor Dewhurst invented the type of politicking where the goal is to smear the opponent and not articulate their own strengths. Unfortunately, that is how it appears elections are won these days. We have seen it at the state level and in our presidential politics.

We hope that during this process Midlanders have heard enough about a candidate who makes them feel comfortable about voting. And in the future, we need to send a loud and clear message to those running for office: the days of winning by tearing down your opponent are over.